Second Life
by AnonymityGranted
Summary: Sequel to Freeza's Rule. Raditz and Bardock have been bought back to life, just in time to witness the power of the Legendary Super Saiyan.
1. Family is Hell

**Second Life**

**Chapter 1**

Family is Hell

Hell was, all things considered, not that bad. No body meant there was no pain, no hunger. Also by some idiot's saving grace no Vegeta. Nappa was here though, but he mostly hung around the others in the small chunk of hell members of the saiyan race had claimed for themselves. Death and lack of physical need had mostly cured Nappa's delusions of being Raditz's owner, avoidance and time took care of the rest. Nappa still felt however that the younger saiyan, and others of his class, were beneath him.

Raditz couldn't believe he'd once so intensely feared this state of being.

He only ran into a few people he knew. Shugesh, his father's old squad mate, and Kilbo, one of Freeza's soldiers he used to train with both made their greetings short and moved on. Freeza himself resided in a different chunk of hell and, despite the ogres attempts to keep them separate, his group and the saiyans often clashed.

It was hard to die in otherworld with no body, no ki for attacks, and no life to lose but when two groups are intent on destroying each other little is going to stop them from finding a way.

In this case it was the forbidden pits, lakes with liquid of questionable viscosity and the ability to kill the soul, by painful erosion. This was not the only method, but it was the easiest to achieve. Raditz honestly didn't see why the ogres didn't let them get on with. Would the balance of souls really suffer all that much if the souls of creatures like Freeza, his father, and brother were destroyed?

Older souls slowly became more docile, they began to fade, and then they were eventually reborn. Raditz would love to know the rate of return.

Luckily, besides an initial ribbing about trying to fight King Yenma, Raditz was mostly left to himself. He was unimportant and ultimately unnoticeable. It was more peace then he'd ever achieved in his lifetime, maybe it was the magic of the place but he was certainly content with that. Let Kakarot fight the great battles and save his pathetic planet. Let Freeza and King Vegeta continue their grudges well into the afterlife. He would get as far away from those lunatics as the vast unending realm of hell would let him.

He found a dark, dank corner of hell. No one around but the occasional 1500 year old faded spirit. They looked at him oddly but after this long in hell the fight had seeped out of them. They were soon to be reborn, well, in the next hundred or so years really, but what was that when you weren't aging at all?

He could stay here.

If only hell would drain away his curiosity first.

Every few months or years, he was no longer sure; he'd go and check on the idiots. See whose soul had managed to be destroyed and what great living world event was on the crystal ball. He kept these visits brief, he didn't want to be involved but there was only so long you could stare at stone before it started blinking back at you. So here he was, watching while Prince Vegeta got the crap kicked out of him by some Earthling, no, some android, on the crystal viewer.

He could see Vegeta hadn't changed much, even in defeat. He could also see the apple didn't fall far from the rotten royal tree. King Vegeta was assuring the people of a glorious comeback. He couldn't help being a little pissed. Kakarot could find something redeemable in Vegeta of all people but not his own brother? He offered Freeza an out, but not Raditz. Then again family had not meant much to Raditz at the time either, it was probably this place affecting him again. In fact from what he could see a lot of saiyans were reforming family bonds as it were. They were still close to their squad mates as was custom in life, but he saw siblings getting drunk together (yes, they found a way to get drunk while dead), he saw fathers laughing with sons and daughters, and so forth and so on. It was disgusting.

He had, ironically not given much thought to his own father. He had admired the man to the point of idiocy as a child but he honestly didn't want to see Kakarot's face, and by extension their father's. In terms of saiyan fathers during their time under Freeza Bardock had been an all right one. He publicly acknowledged his son, or at least the fact that he had one, he let Raditz trail around after his team in their off hours. He recognized Raditz, even if he often had to be reminded of his name. Raditz had considered himself luckier than most saiyan children, his father was more than a name after his own, and he had some connection to his other relatives, his cousin older cousin Turles, who took a shine to him for his own reasons, and Turles' mother, Bardock's sister who adored her nephew because of his great resemblance to herself. As a child he hated resembling the female who seemed to be his father's arch nemesis but now he was just glad he didn't end up one of his father's look-a-likes.

Sure saiyans might have slaved under Freeza for a few generations but what other species had accomplished the destruction and domination that they had? And they did it by being warriors not by being sympathetic wimps.

"Raditz!" someone called. He didn't look up, in fact he walked quickly in the opposite direction hoping whoever it was would think they made a mistake.

"Raditz, stop!" ordered the voice. Who did this person think they were to give him orders? His curiosity reeled its ugly head and he turned, only to catch sight of an irritated Toma, his father's best friend and squad mate. Nope, no chance of convincing him of mistaken identity.

Raditz ran. He ran right into Borgos, another one of his father's old squad mates. The balding saiyan grabbed him by the shoulders with a big smile, one that just seemed wrong to Raditz. As a child Borgos had frightened him the most of his father's companions. He was mostly quiet and his appearance was grotesque.

"If it isn't little Raditz," he said. Raditz scowled at the older saiyan. He certainly wasn't scared of the behemoth of a saiyan now, he wasn't even that much shorter than him anymore, only a foot or so.

"Bardock's been looking everywhere for you!" exclaimed Toma, not noticing Raditz's wince.

He didn't want to see his father. He didn't want to be caught up in whatever ghosts his sire was trying to exorcise. And he certainly did not want to talk about the last few years of his miserable life, or even the years before that.

"I'll pass," he said trying to shrug out of Borgos grip. Toma just looked confused, Raditz couldn't help but be annoyed at him the most. Didn't he have his own children to hunt down? Didn't any of them? Toma had a son, he knew but he wasn't sure about Borgos, and Shugesh had a daughter and a son, Raditz remembered him bragging about his children, he might have even met them at one point. As Raditz struggled Borgos just lifted him over his shoulder and walked off, presumably in the direction of Bardock. The sea of saiyans parted easily for the behemoth, the surrounding crowd had found the spectacle entertaining, though not as entertaining as watching their prince.

They bought him to a rocky outcropping where he could make Fasha and Shugesh. He didn't see his father, maybe he'd be able to miss the man after all. "Look who showed up," called out Fasha. She pointing away from them, and they turned to look. About half a meter away Bardock stood nose to nose with his elder sister. She looked just as Raditz remembered her, which wasn't surprising he'd last seen her just four days before she was killed by a malfunctioning pod. The same long spiky hairstyle as Raditz's, and the same scowl. Raditz might actually enjoy watching the two fight.

"Hey, Bardock! We found your son!" yelled Toma. Bardock's head snapped in their direction, at the same time he leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the cheap left hook his sister swung at him. The battling siblings walked toward them. '_Great_,' Raditz thought, '_Family Reunion_,'


	2. Reunited

**Chapter 2**

Reunited

"Where have you been hiding? I've been looking for you since you died," scolded Bardock. Scolded, as if Raditz was a five year old and he was Raditz's trainer, like he had any right to tell Raditz what to do. He probably only wanted to tell him off for trying to kill Kakarot, his younger brother had become something of a hero after defeating Freeza, much to King Vegeta's chagrin. The saiyan people though that Kakarot was definitely a strange one but he defeated Freeza and now it was just a race to who would destroy the lizard's soul. King Vegeta was usually quick to inject that his grandson, Prince Trunks (as he insisted the boy be addressed), was the one to actually finish off Freeza, and his father, King Cold, but even the old king wasn't stupid enough to try and dirty up Kakarot's hero status much lest his subjects turn on him.

"I've been around," said Raditz blankly.

"No one wanted to see you in life and certainly not in death, little brother," interjected his aunt, "But honestly nephew I was looking for you, where were you hiding?"

"Around," Raditz said again then he glared at Borgos who still hadn't let go of him. The man got the hint and set him down.

Bardock and his sister were bickering again. "Aphia, go away. Your mate must be worried, or did he finally annoy someone enough to throw him in the pit," said Bardock. Raditz weighed his chances of slipping away, they looked bad, but good enough to try.

He ducked under the behemoth's arm and began strolling away. He got seven paces away, three more than he'd first estimated, before someone grabbed his shoulder. "Yeesh, Bardock what did you do to the little runt," said Fasha.

Bardock shrugged in lieu of replying.

"While I get the bottom of that, you all head out. Fasha I'll trade you," said Bardock seizing his sister and throwing her at Fasha who did the same with Raditz.

Bardock stood waving at his crew as they dragged his sister away kicking and screaming, while holding his eldest son's wrist in a vice grip. Raditz panicked inside. There were private crystal viewers that let people look in on the living, what if Bardock had looked in on him? If he'd seen what had gone on in his life under Freeza? He wouldn't just be ashamed and disappointed he'd be sickened by his eldest son. Raditz would probably be stripped of the right to call himself a son of Bardock's. Breeders were never looked on favorably, he'd learned that growing up but it had been nailed home in his arrival in hell.

Although they were dead now, breeders were still sneered at, pushed around, and left out the fighting. Raditz was sure by now that no one knew he was one, only Nappa and it seemed the idiot hadn't said anything, probably from the excitement of being welcomed back into King Vegeta's court with honors. He had had the expectation that they could just look at him and know his secret. He was never so thankful that the mark that had identified him as different in his prepubescent had faded within the same year it had appeared.

"Raditz, I-" started Bardock, but Raditz didn't want to hear it. "What made you remember I existed?" he snarled at the other saiyan. He wasn't sure it was anger he felt, but that was the emotion he could most identify with in the mixture of what he felt towards Bardock.

"I watched you and Kakarot fight," Bardock said honestly, again, Raditz's anger bubbled but he also felt relief.

"Why?" Raditz asked.

"I'm not sure how they knew but one of the ogres told me it was something I'd want to see so I went and I saw," replied Bardock. "Honestly up to that point I had figured you'd died a long time ago. King Yenma took pity on a lot of Saiyan children; they sure didn't end up here,"

That made a lot of sense. In his years here, he hadn't seen any children of his race, although he knew they had been slaughtered around the same time as the rest of their people. He just never thought to wonder where they went. Knowing that by the age of five he had decimated the living population of three different planets, he doubted they got a free pass into heaven. Maybe there was a kiddie section of hell.

"I was a soldier under Freeza, under Prince Vegeta's direct command, along with General Nappa," he tried to sound proud of that. Many other low-class saiyans would have loved to be in such a position but they weren't Raditz and Bardock certainly didn't look impressed. He and Kakarot had the same serious look.

"Freeza is murderous, treacherous scumbag. Vegeta, both of them, are blowhards and Nappa is just an idiot, all brute force, the man knows nothing about fighting," said Bardock.

Raditz rolled his eyes. Bardock hadn't changed much, he had often talked about how the elites didn't know how to fight, but what did he know. Aside from being a legend among the low class Bardock had been scorned by the elites all his life, he was considered a lunatic by even those who admired him.

"Son, I'm sorry. Living under Freeza is, well much worse than here. I should have, I don't know," rambled Bardock but Raditz mind was stuck on the first three words. Why in hell was Bardock apologizing?

Seeing that Raditz wasn't going to respond Bardock continued.

"I know I wasn't much of a father, my own father would have been ashamed. He was close to me and my demonic sister, he taught me things that carried me through life. I wasn't that for you or Kakarot and someone finally gave me the gift to see it before I died," implored Bardock

Did he really think Raditz was just going to fall over himself and forgive him? Do some father-son bonding and live happily ever after in hell?

"Is that what you dragged me out here for? I am a saiyan warrior such sentiment makes you weak," he snarled out. Thinking that would be the end of it, he started to storm away. He was stopped by his father's strong kick to his backside. He fell over in a heap, his face kissing the ground. When he lifted his head and turned it in Bardock's direction the older saiyan stood over him with a light frown.

"It'll be a sad day when one of my sons thinks they can talk to me like that and get away with it. I'm not asking you to start over son, I'm telling you, but if I have to beat it into you, gladly," Bardock said with a devilish smirk. He got into a fighting stance while he waited for Raditz to get back on his feet.

Raditz stood and fell into a stance as well. He hadn't been in many fights since arriving in hell. Death did nothing to curb the saiyan instinct to fight but Raditz just hadn't felt it that strongly. With no ki to use everyone was on equal footing, the fight came down to basic hand-to-hand combat, and all of it was made pointless by the lack of pain. It basically ended when one person got tired, or pinned.

Raditz's lack of practice definitely showed. Bardock had his eldest son pinned in within ten minutes.

"Now son don't you think it be better to just do as your told?" Bardock taunted

"No," ground out Raditz with his face pressed to the dirt.

"Aw, he has nerves, I'm so proud. I'd twist your arm but it wouldn't actually hurt you, no body and all so I'll just keep you close until I manage to train you into an obedient son," said Bardock. He let Raditz up but kept a grip on his upper arm.

"Fuck off," snarled Raditz attempting to yank his arm away, Bardock only smiled indulgently and yanked him in the opposite direction.


	3. King Yenma's Offer

**Chapter 3**

King Yenma's Offer

Bardock was annoyingly true to his word. He didn't let Raditz out of his sight, he forced the younger saiyan to go where ever he went, even employing Borgos to sit on him a few times. Luckily, it seemed Bardock and his crew stayed out of the way of the other saiyans and their ongoing battle with Freeza and King Cold. They seemed to be in a smaller, personal battle with Cooler, who for the most part, avoided his father and younger brother.

Today however the news going around was that Freeza and Cooler had come to blows. The entire Cold camp was in an uproar with people taking sides. King Vegeta wanted to use the confusion to attack but Bardock had a different opinion.

"They outman the saiyans four to one, these grand stands King Vegeta keeps pushing will get them all killed, or well destroyed. Besides King Cold has shown his preference for Freeza repeatedly, he'll end this soon and Cooler will be pissed off with the outcome. If old King Vegeta was smart he'd make an alliance with Cooler to off the other two, yeah, Cooler would betray him but not before the other two were gone," Bardock explained to them.

Since Bardock did not associate with King Vegeta or his closest company of elite morons, the attack went as scheduled and it went just as badly as Bardock predicted. Thirty-nine saiyan souls ended up being destroyed by liquid from forbidden pit, King Cold and Freeza, on the other hand, only lost seven men. Before the battle, Cooler had separated from his father and brother, taken his chunk of men, and moved to a different part of hell. It would be a three-way battle now.

The ogres were trying to erect barriers between the three camps, and were trying to repair the barriers around the pits. Of course, no one was going quietly. Leaders of each side had ordered an all-out assault on the ogre enforcers. To make matters worse the Taser guns the ogres were armed with were not only able to hurt spirits; they had been stolen en mass by all sides. The three-way, now four-way war had escalated.

One of the armed ogres stopped in front of Bardock's group, with the gun held tightly in front of him. It would be so easy for the four of them (they wouldn't dream of including Raditz, he had proclaimed them all nuts) to take the gun.

"All saiyans need to be in sector three," he said, his nervousness showed. How had these creatures survived constant interaction with saiyans and icejins? They seemed so easily frightened.

"So you can lock us in with the rest of them, no thanks," said Fasha.

"We had no part in that fight," said Toma

"I'm not going over there," said Shugesh.

The ogres frowned looking over the group. His eyes landed on Bardock.

"Hey, are you Bardock?" he asked excitedly. Bardock look at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, why?"

"King Yenma wants to talk to you; he just handed down orders this morning," replied the ogre. It looked like he'd completely forgotten the conversation that had taken pace before.

"Alright, but my son is coming with me," replied Bardock easily. The ogre nodded even though he shrunk back at the look Raditz gave him.

Bardock rose, and because of the firm grip he had on Raditz's upper arm, Raditz was forced to stand as well. They waved to the others, who it seemed had been forgotten in the excitement of finding them and carrying out Yenma's orders. They were led to a highly protected doorway they had never seen before and before they knew it, they were standing in front of King Yenma's giant desk watching the ogre king shuffle his papers.

"Are you sure about this King Yenma?" asked one of the nearby ogres. "The timing is, well it just may not be the best time for this,"

"I know what I'm doing!" yelled the ogre king in frustration, the worker shrunk back under Yenma's temper. Raditz sunk down on the floor, not interested in whatever the ogre king had to say. Bardock gave him a look but said nothing.

"The saiyan Bardock, father of Goku," announced one of the smaller ogres. Bardock looked confused. "Goku is what Kakarot goes by these days," supplied Raditz. Bardock made a face but then shrugged.

"Also, Raditz, brother of Goku," said the ogre as if he'd just noticed Raditz's presence. Raditz scowled at him for referring to him as such but, as he had no ki, had no choice but to let the insect live.

"Ah, yes. Bardock and Raditz, just the two saiyans I needed to see," said Yenma. Hold on, wasn't this little meeting just for Bardock? Raditz couldn't ponder this for long as King Yenma pulled a scroll from his breast pocket and began to read.

"Although you both have committed heinous crimes against various species in numerous quadrants, I, King Yenma, have decided that in light of acts committed by another member of your race and the increase of powerful evil in the universe, I, King Yenma, would like to reevaluate select members of the saiyan race and hopefully reintegrate them in the universe as agents of good. To start this process and test it, I, King Yenma, have selected you two, Bardock and Raditz, to be the first subjects. You will be revived on the planet Earth under the care of Earth's guardian. Although your past actions shall not be forgiven, you will have the chance to live your lives over and hopefully make better decisions," said the giant ogre.

Bardock and Raditz gaped at him. "Huh?" they both said. Raditz blinked owlishly from the floor.

King Yenma looked irritated and balled the paper up. "I'm reviving you both to-,"

"No, we heard that. It's just, why?" interrupted Bardock

A vein popped out in King Yenma's forehead. "Do you want to stay dead?" he yelled at them "No," said Bardock as if it should be obvious

"Yes," said Raditz simultaneously, in the same tone

King Yenma's eyebrows rose as he and Bardock both gave Raditz and odd look. King Yenma was obviously unprepared for a negative response from either of them, in fact it was still up in the air whether he had intended Raditz to be here or not.

"Uh, well," started Yenma. Bardock's tail thwacked his son in the head. It didn't hurt, they still didn't have bodies yet.

"Ignore him, he's coming anyway," Bardock said.

"Like hell-" started Raditz

The ogre king scratched his beard. "I suppose-" started King Yenma

"I'm his father, and I am choosing what is best for my son. I'd like the opportunity to be a better father to both my sons," interrupted Bardock in a sincere sounding voice. Raditz didn't buy it for a second, he glared at the back of his father's spiky head wishing the older saiyan would spontaneously disappear or combust, either was good for him. King Yenma, on the other hand, lapped it up and without another word he slammed his heavy giant sized stamp on the papers in front of him sealing the deal and Raditz's fate. The two saiyans were restored to their bodies and transported to Earth's Lookout, all without Raditz having to move a muscle.

Bardock was grinning like a fool, he threw a small ki ball up in the air experimentally and harmlessly reabsorbed it a second later. Raditz didn't bother, he could feel his blood forming rapids inside his veins, he could feel the chill of the breeze on his skin, he could feel the pain of having sat on his tail for too long. All of these were things he hadn't felt in nearly a decade since he'd first been killed in a ridiculous battle with his idiotic brother.

He was alive.


	4. Life is Hell

**Chapter 4**

Life is Hell

The long haired saiyan could only stare at his surroundings. The wall opposite of him stared back, then it blinked. He was startled until he realized it was a creature, and a strange looking one at that, with something green behind it. It seemed the creature was hiding a Nemekian child. He let a brief hope grow that they were not even on Earth and that the old ogre king had messed up but he knew it was in vain. There was a Nemekian here the first time, too.

Most importantly, they had reappeared in their actual living bodies. The sun could hurt their eyes, a punch would be followed by pain, they could feel the rush of battle again. They needed to breathe and eat again.

Raditz let out a long sigh and sat on the cool stone. He felt a bubbling mix of uncomfortable and dread. He laid back and closed his eyes to the bright sunlight.

Bardock's mind was racing, he hadn't seen anything of his son's life after Freeza's defeat. Raditz was still moping, did his sons really form such a deep-seated hatred when they had only been in each other's presence for an hour at most? That was going to be problematic, he didn't want his sons fighting, but he knew Raditz could be very stubborn. Would Kakarot want them in his life? And what was so bad about the ogre king's timing. Where exactly on Earth were they anyway?

As the last question passed through his mind, Bardock took in his surroundings. They seemed to in a palace in the sky. Stepping to the edge Bardock could see they were a great ways up, it was an inspiring sight.

Raditz was laid out on the ground with his eyes closed, moping.

"Welcome to the lookout," greeted the strange black being with a bow.

"I am Mr. Popo, and this is Dende, the Guardian of Earth," said the creature, turning slightly so more of the green child could be seen cowering behind him. If that was what passed for a guardian, Earthlings were very strange.

"Ok," said Bardock eyeing both the creature and child suspiciously. Dende, as he'd been introduced leap back to hide himself completely behind Popo again. Raditz let out frustrated sigh and turned on his side facing away from the conversation.

"King Yenma has informed us your resurrection, you have come at a most inauspicious time however we will do our best to make you both welcome," continued the creature. There it was again the sketchy hinting of trouble without saying what, oh well Bardock could play along. He needed time to kick some sense into his eldest anyway.

"We have sent a message to Goku, he will be by shortly,"

Bardock smiled at that, finally something he wanted to hear. Just as he was about to thank the creature, Kakarot shimmered into place right beside him. Bardock stared in surprise at his look-a-like. Kakarot's, when he'd noticed Bardock beside him, mouth gaped comically. Raditz did not stir from where he chose to lie.

"Wow, you look just like me," said Kakarot

They decided collectively to have explanations over lunch, they being Bardock and Kakarot. While the other two attacked their food like true saiyans, Raditz ate at a sedated pace, the Saiyan equivalent of picking at his food.

"So King Yenma brought you both back to life, now?" asked Goku incredulously around a mouthful of dumplings.

"Yes, and what is so bad about now? No one will say directly," replied Bardock after force swallowing a mouthful of pasta.

"An evil android called Cell is planning to destroy the earth, we're going to fight him in a few days," explained Goku clearly though his cheeks were full of rice.

"How powerful is this android?" asked Bardock with a dumpling hanging halfway to his mouth.

"Freeza can't even compare to Cell," said Goku with a little glee. He surely had the saiyan love of a challenge. Bardock smirked in response, "Well, bad time or not we help out anyway we can,"

Raditz let out a snort as he took a bite out of a roll. Goku looked at him curiously. Bardock was pleased to note that at least on his end there was no aggression.

"Ignore your brother, he's been in a mood since we left Hell," said Bardock as dug back into his food but Goku wasn't paying him any mind. He leaned in close to elder brother's face, though the other saiyan tried hard to ignore.

"You're not still sore about dying are you?" asked Goku seriously.

"I couldn't care less about that," stated Raditz without even looking at either his brother or father. Goku gave him a goofy smile. "Great," he said before launching himself to hug the other saiyan. The look on Raditz face hung somewhere between embarrassment, rage, and surprise. Bardock bit off a laugh, knowing it would only enrage Raditz further.

With a hard shove, Raditz managed to dislodge the younger saiyan. He glowered at Goku, who only grinned back.

"Raditz apologize to your brother for kidnapping his son," Bardock ordered. Raditz did honestly look extremely guilty, so that was a good sign.

"I am sorry about that Kakarot, but do NOT hug me, idiot!" yelled Raditz. Bardock sighed in frustration, but his youngest seemed to take the exchange as a true declaration of brotherly affection. How in the world had the boy survived so long without knowing the difference between aggravated hostility and affection? That was fine though, whatever was eating at his eldest truly had nothing to do with the younger so Bardock could deal with him later. He could only hope his grandson would take his uncle's words at face value as well.

The rest of their meal went pleasantly enough. Goku had taken a permanent spot beside Raditz and shifted wildly from stealing his brother's food to shoving it down Raditz's unwilling throat, quite literally at some points.

Finally the three saiyans were mostly full, and the Lookout was out of food.

"Come on, I bet Chi-Chi has dinner ready by now," said Goku enthusiastically rubbing his stomach as if he hadn't just eaten. He took off over the edge of the Lookout. Bardock followed him after thanking Dende and Popo.

"I'm not hungry," said Raditz but he made to follow the two anyway.

Bardock listened aptly as Goku rambled about the different cities and land structures they passed, though the descriptions weren't very in depth. Some were simply 'Bulma lives there,' or "They have amazing food,' but it interested Bardock none the less. From his visions he knew Kakarot was a warrior but outside of that he seemed very simple minded. Much different from any saiyan Bardock had ever known, much different from the very saiyan family he came from.

As they drew closer to the mountain, Mt. Pao as Kakarot had called it; Kakarot pointed out his favorite fishing spots, and spoke more about his family.

"Gohan accidentally went over that waterfall once but then he ended up on that branch far above it somehow,"

"Chi-Chi loves the flowers that grow in this part if the forest,"

"Gohan and I spar in those caves over there, so Chi-Chi doesn't find us,"

They landed in front of a modest home, especially considering the large buildings they had passed in the city. "And this is home," said Kakarot with flourish as Raditz silently joined them on the ground.

Bardock was almost surprised he didn't get lost with how far he chose to lag behind them.

"Father!" exclaimed a voice. It was a boy that could only be Kakarot's son Gohan, he ran out of the house and stood between Kakarot and them in a fighting stance. Bardock opened his mouth to say something but as he did he found himself somewhere else.

_They were in a field. Cherry trees were in bloom and although he didn't see Kakarot he saw Gohan. They were others, a blue haired earthling holding an infant, a bald earthling and an old man, and Raditz who was glaring at someone who sitting behind a tree where Bardock couldn't see him. It appeared to be some kind of picnic, and the bald one was screeching out in a way Bardock guessed was supposed to be music._

_A space ship landed and masked soldiers came out, an attack? No, something told him. He was watching the ship and found he couldn't turn his head to see what the soldiers were doing. Apparently, this vision was about who ever would step off that ship._

_He saw the figure step down. Despite the sweeping cape, and the lone eye he recognized the figure as a saiyan. A saiyan that he knew but not personally but he knew that saiyan. He was second class, always sneered at Bardock and his crew for taking jobs above their class level, but what was his name? If only he could remember, it seemed so important to remember…_

Then just that quickly the vision was over. And he was standing in front of Gohan again. He'd forgotten what he'd planned to say.

"Gohan, your Uncle and Grandfather are going to stay with us!" exclaimed Kakarot before Bardock could think of anything else. Gohan's mouth opened and closed a few times, he was clearly as lost for words as Bardock was. Raditz rolled his eyes and huffed.


	5. Bonding

**Chapter 5**

Bonding

They were immediately introduced to Kakarot's wife, Chi-Chi. She glared at Raditz with a broiling hatred. She pulled Kakarot to the side then she screamed, yelled, threatened and swung an abnormally heavy pan in everyone's direction. However, in the end Bardock agreed with her so she made them tea.

"He does things like this to me all the time, brings strange aliens home, no offense, disappearing for days, months, I don't know what to do with him sometimes," she ranted

"It's not fair to you," agreed Bardock as they sat. He didn't touch the tea that had been offered to him but Chi-Chi didn't seem to notice or mind. The others had fled in the wake of Chi-Chi's rage.

"If it's worth anything though, I'm glad my son has had such a good wife to look after him all these years," complimented Bardock. Chi-Chi blushed in way that was very reminiscent of herself as a child. She couldn't help but be glad she was making such a good impression on her father-in-law even if she had attacked him in the beginning.

Even so she cleared her throat.

"You have to understand why I'm a little concerned about Raditz," she began

"Say no more, Raditz is very sorry about what he did, but at the time he felt it was what he had to do. His comrades wouldn't have given a second thought to coming and destroying the entire planet and taking Kakarot and Gohan by force. That doesn't excuse him but I hope you'll let him start to make things up," said Bardock. He could practically hear his former crewmates laughing at him. In his first lifetime the only negotiating he did was kick his crew apart when they got into a brawl. However, a few decades in hell can change a person, especially when they already had regrets.

"Alright, but if he tries to hurt Gohan-" said Chi-Chi finishing by sending two hard jabs into the air beside her. 'So, Kakarot's woman is a warrior on this planet,' thought Bardock.

Chi-Chi got up to put the finishing touches on dinner and Bardock decided to look around the house. He drifted in out of the rooms in no time, it was a small house, but cozy almost disgustingly so. It was obvious this was Chi-Chi's domain.

He would wager that Kakarot spent a lot of time in the wilds surrounding the small home. Bardock wandered outside, not to far though dinner was almost ready. He saw the small shrine off to the side of the house and found it was also a small one-room house, the same one from his early visions of Kakarot's life. It was a bit dusty but someone had kept it up well, probably Kakarot himself. Bardock didn't go inside feeling as if he was intruding, he was grateful to the old earthling for caring for his son, for raising him into the warrior that eventually defeated Freeza and avenged the saiyan race among countless others.

"Dinner!" called Chi-Chi

Bardock quickly stepped back into the house only to see himself beaten by Goku who had instant transmissioned Raditz and Gohan along with himself to the dining room. Bardock sat down with the others as Chi-Chi fussed at Goku over using martial arts techniques in the house. Did that really count?

Bardock was pleased to see that not only had Raditz's appetite had improved but his attitude as well. However, Kakarot's appetite and enthusiasm was still unmatched. Even as he sat at the table and dug in he was finishing a story he'd been in the middle of telling.

"So, I head-butted him, but I kinda went through him, but he was defeated either way," Kakarot was saying Raditz made a disgusted face in response.

"You went through him? Ugh, I got swallowed by a beast when I was a child and getting out was nauseating," said Raditz shuddering. Goku and Gohan broke out in laughter.

"What ate you?" asked Gohan still giggling

"Some giant insectoid creature, ugh, can we change the subject," plead Raditz. Goku and Gohan looked ready to take pity on him but Bardock had been dealing with his attitude since Hell.

"Did you get out the back end or something?" asked Bardock with mock curiosity though he'd already heard this story before. Raditz turned green and pushed his plate away.

"You know I didn't, I clawed my way out of its gut, but its exoskeleton was tough, it took me a couple days," said Raditz as shuddered again. He truly looked like he was going to be sick, and Gohan did too. Bardock could help but laugh at his eldest's misfortune just like the first time Raditz told him the story.

"This is not proper dinnertime conversation," interjected Chi-Chi, she looked a bit green as well.

"So, Gohan did you finish your studies today, like you promised," asked Chi-Chi with an edge of steel.

"Um…" stuttered Gohan

"What is Gohan studying anyway?" asked Bardock quickly. He didn't miss the grateful look Gohan shot once Chi-Chi had looked away.

"Gohan is going to grow up to be a great scholar. He just has to keep his nose in his books, he's a very bright boy," gushed Chi-Chi. Gohan appeared to be blushing.

"A scholar? Hmm, I'll take a good fight any day over books," said Bardock before he gave it much thought. Kakarot was smiling a very goofy grin.

"Well now I see where Goku gets that attitude from. That might work fine for saiyans but here on earth a good education is important for growing boy, that's why we're going to the parent interview to a prestigious school tomorrow. They'll give Gohan a wonderful education," said Chi-Chi with stars in her eyes.

"Is that your major concern when your planet is about to be destroyed?" questioned Raditz incredulously. Chi-Chi looked ready to kill.

"I like studying," insisted Gohan, "but I have to help defeat Cell,"

"Or there won't be any school, or earth for that matter and we'll all probably be dead, that kind of gets in the way of stuff like studying and breathing," added Raditz sarcastically. Chichi glared daggers at him from across the table, so much for those two getting along.

"So, um Grandfather?" asked Gohan

"Hmm," responded Bardock still watching Chi-Chi glare at his eldest who was deliberately ignoring her.

"Did King Yenma say why he brought you guys back?" asked Gohan

"No, not really. He just said something about second chances and better influences and believing we'd make better choices," replied Bardock

"Oh, do you think he'll bring back more saiyans," asked Gohan a little fearfully. Bardock couldn't truly blame him for being fearful of his own people but it disturbed him none the less.

"No, but even if he did not all saiyans are evil Gohan. Freeza played on aggression and tendencies we already had but he twisted us into tools that were useful to him. We lost many good people fighting under Freeza, I wish things had been different," said Bardock solemnly.

"Did they all go to Hell?"

"Most, some I'm not sure. Hell is a big place and it seems like you run into everyone you don't want to see and none that you do. It took me years after Raditz's death to find him, it didn't help that he was hiding," said Bardock

"I was not," argued Raditz

"You were, in one of the dankest areas of hell at that,"

"It was quiet," mumbled Raditz

"Although I'm going to comfort myself in thinking you were hiding from King Vegeta and his legion of little minions he gathered around himself and not your own father,"

"You think you and your crew aren't annoying?" muttered Raditz a little louder than he meant to.

In one swift motion, Bardock had reached over and pulled hard on Raditz's tail, which had been safely tucked around his waist.

"Ack," Raditz made a choked noise before falling over and out of his seat. Goku winced in sympathy while Chi-Chi looked on in amusement.


	6. Morbid Thoughts

**Chapter 6**

Morbid Thoughts

After dinner Goku had immediately wanted to spar with Bardock, apparently Raditz had turned him down earlier. Bardock was seriously going to have to find the underlying cause of his eldest son's issues. Chi-Chi however was against it.

"You said you were going to relax before that stupid tournament," she said

"I know but sparing is relaxing," insisted Kakarot

"Goku, Gohan has studying to do," she said

"Aw, Chi-Chi," whined Kakarot, yes whined. Bardock shuddered at the sound. It was time to intervene.

"We can go spar tomorrow, there still a lot of catching up to do," said Bardock. Chi-Chi actually beamed, she even allowed Gohan to stay downstairs with them with only one review book.

"So Kakarot tell me about your comrades, how did you meet them?," asked Bardock.

"Well, I guess it all started when Bulma took me on an adventure to find the dragon balls after my Grandpa Gohan died…," began Kakarot. Even though Bardock knew many of the basics it was different hearing it in his son's own words.

They spent the next few hours trading stories. Bardock shared stories of his crew, of Planet Vegeta, and of great fights he'd been in. He found himself reaching into long forgotten memories to the childhood stories his father had shared with him. Stories that he'd never thought to share with either of his sons up till now.

Chi-Chi shared some of Earth's myths and histories including the original legend of the Dragon Balls. Raditz was mostly silent throughout the exchange.

"Raditz don't you have any stories to tell?" asked Kakarot suddenly.

"No, living under Freeza was nightmare, one I don't care to share," said Raditz darkly.

"You know Vegeta's here on earth, I bet you two-," started Kakarot

"Vegeta and I were never friends. I'm sure you think he's changed but I don't want to be friends with him," interrupted Raditz. His expression was fierce and his fists were clenched tightly. All he could think about was years of Vegeta's haughty smirk, taunting words, and sadistic indifference. He didn't want to share those memories but he also didn't want to relive them.

"Raditz," began Bardock.

"I'm going outside, I need air," said Raditz. He didn't run, but it was a hurried walk out the door of the small home. Once the door was shut he took off into the night sky.

He flew out to the fishing lake, it was where him, Kakarot, and Kakarot's brat had fled earlier from the harpy's wrath. The scene was a tranquil one, smooth flowing water, picturesque shore and surrounding forest. It all felt so wrong. Raditz collapsed against a tree, hugging his knees.

In hell he was at peace at least for a while, here it seemed was just going to be thing after thing that he didn't want to deal with. He'd forgotten about Vegeta, he wanted to forget about Freeza and Nappa.

Would Vegeta reveal what he was? It didn't matter that much in hell. Yes, most saiyans there treated known breeders as weaker, but being dead meant no baser desires. It was why Nappa had lost most of his interest in him. Vegeta would never lower himself to do what Nappa did but if he told Bardock what Raditz was he would want nothing to do with his eldest son. His father had grown on him, leeching into parts of himself he thought he'd sealed over long ago. He had stupidly he'd let himself get attached to the older saiyan's presence. He had even grown some affection for his idiotic brother and his little nephew in so short a time without noticing it.

"_Stupid breeder, stop struggling," snarled Nappa as the whimpering bundle beneath him. Raditz had curled into a fetal position and clenched every muscle in an attempt to stay in it but fueled by rage and superior strength Nappa pried the other in to a relatively straight position._

"_This is all a breeder is good for," hissed the bald saiyan as he shoved himself inside of the much smaller saiyan. "On Planet Vegeta you'd've been put in your place as soon as you got the mark. Your precious low-class father would have forgotten he ever had such a worthless son,"_

Raditz shook himself away from the memory. Saiyans did not like to acknowledge that something as weak as a breeder could have spawned from them. In hell, Raditz could get away with not mentioning it. Here, Vegeta would probably reveal him just to be cruel. There were other ways to tell, a slight scent that was detectable, but its effects were mostly unconscious, and it had no effect on family members.

Raditz had no idea how Kakarot would react. He wouldn't know that he should be appropriately disgusted by his brother. Kakarot wouldn't know that as a saiyan he should want to keep his brother as far away from his growing child as possible, less it rub off on him. The idiot would probably try to set him up with strongest human he could find. Bardock would set him straight; they might even revive that old tradition of selling breeders to the highest bidder.

Raditz shuddered at the thought. Many of Freeza's conquered planets had active slave trades. Members of destroyed races, sometimes a planet's whole population was slated for sell in the slave markets. Some conquered planets gave their former kings and queens to Freeza as personal slaves and they lived their lives knowing that if they displeased the lizard he would take it out on their planet's population, some only that Freeza had destroyed their planet as soon as they'd stepped off it. Raditz had seen these poor, miserable creatures. He'd seen one attempt to spear itself on a rusty blade rather than go through that sort of life, if it could be called that at all. The funny thing was he'd lived that life.

"_Let me go," he pleaded. Nappa pulled him closer in an embrace so warm, it was mocking._

"_Never," he whispered into the shell of Raditz's ear._

Raditz took deep calming breaths; they worked as well as they had always worked for him. He was panicking, quite possibly over nothing. This planet was in the middle of a life or death situation, quite possibly to be destroyed. Vegeta certainly had other things to worry about than his old team mate who had been beneath his notice at the best of times. Raditz could quite easily be back in hell before the week was out. He was panicking over nothing.

"Raditz!" shouted Bardock. Raditz looked up in time to see his father landing a few feet away from him.

"Son, what's-" Bardock started to question.

"Nothing, just a little overwhelmed," replied Raditz with a forced smile. Bardock didn't look completely sold.

"Well, let's get back, Chi-Chi's made up space for us to sleep," said Bardock walking forward and extending his arm to help his son off the ground. The two flew back in mutual contemplative silence.


	7. Reflection

**Chapter 7**

Reflection

The next day ChiChi was preparing for Gohan's parent interview. She had roused them all early in the morning, made a big breakfast and hustled Kakarot upstairs to get ready before he could attempt to escape. Raditz disappeared almost as soon as he finished eating, while Bardock was enjoying Kakarot's misery. Eventually as Chi-Chi was forcing Kakarot into a suit, under which he insisted to wear his regular clothes, Bardock's laughter and questions became too much for Chi-Chi's nerves, so she threw her father-in-law out the window.

As this was going on someone knocked at the door. Gohan, who had the sense to stay out of Chi-Chi's way, went to get it.

"Krillen!" exclaimed the young demi-saiyan.

"Hey, Gohan. Where's Goku?," asked Krillen

"Upstairs. He and mom are going to a parent interview today," said Gohan gesturing vaguely in the direction of the stairs.

"Aw, really? Me and the others were going out for a picnic in the country. I thought for sure he'd come. Maybe Chi-Chi can reschedule?" said Krillen. He already looked disappointed at the forgone conclusion.

"I doubt it," said Gohan, confirming Krillen's fears. Oh, well, they could have fun without Goku, right?

"So, do you want to come Gohan?" asked Krillen. At least one member of the Son family should have some fun. Then again, parent interviews might be Chi-Chi's idea of fun.

"Sure, let me ask my mom," said Gohan as he ran off upstairs, leaving Krillen in the living room.

A few seconds later, the door opened and Bardock walked in.

"Goku!" exclaimed Krillen. He didn't quite catch the confused look on the other's face. "I thought you were upstairs getting ready for your interview. What's with the saiyan armor?" asked Krillen.

Bardock looked at the short human in confusion for a few seconds before realizing that he was being mistaken for his younger son.

"I'm not Kakarot," he said. The human's face twisted in extreme confusion and his body shifted cautiously into a fighting position.

"Who are you?" demanded the human. As much as Bardock wanted to toy with the human it probably wasn't wise. He didn't have a scouter but he was sure this human was quite possibly stronger than he was.

"I'm Bardock, recently revived father of Kakarot or Goku as you call him," said Bardock. The human's mouth dropped. It was almost as fun as messing with him would have been.

"Krillen, mom says I can go. Grandpa, do you and Uncle Raditz want to come to the picnic with me," said Gohan as he came bolting down the stairs. At the sound of Raditz's name the human fell over onto the floor. Gohan looked concerned.

"Sure, but I can't find Raditz. He's off moping again," said Bardock ignoring the human on the floor.

"I'll help you look. We have sense his ki," said Gohan.

"Without a scouter?" questioned Bardock.

"Yup, I'll teach you, it's easy," said Gohan grinning. They left Krillen on the living room floor and headed out to find Raditz. The found him in a random area of the forest next to a dead t-rex.

_He whirled as a roar caught him off guard, his scouter chiming in a late warning. It seemed he had missed one and its anger at seeing its comrades killed had overcome its usual gentle nature. A quick blast through the chest cured his oversight and the beast collapsed at his feet._

"_I guess you can be Kakarot," he told it._

Raditz shook his head, willing away the images. He was a monster, he'd always had been but now next to the shining savior that was his younger brother, it sickened him.

_They faced him with rocks, sticks, slingshots, and other implements they must have gotten from their homes. There were maybe 15 of them and they looked determined. They were brave._

"_So you think you can defeat me with toys?" he mocked them. They gathered themselves, and their courage then they charged. Raditz let them nearly reach him before letting off a wide blast that killed the lot. He walked out to the eggs and surveyed them coldly. He blasted the egg covering the cave in reddish egg yolk and half-formed aliens._

_It was sickening._

_He was a monster._

Raditz slammed his head back into the oak he was leaning against, it didn't help or hurt. He just wanted to forget.

_Kakarot was holding him as the Nemekian charged up his beam. If that hit they were both going to die. He didn't want to die, he was too scared. Hell was supposed to be worse than anything in life, he couldn't take worse._

_No. _

_The beam of concentrated ki sliced through both brothers' chests. They were both dying, he'd failed his mission. His own brother had sacrificed his own life to end his, as if he'd already know how worthless his elder brother was._

"Raditz!" yelled Bardock for the umpteen time. He shook his eldest by the shoulders.

"Huh, father? What are you doing here?" asked Raditz.

"We've," said Bardock gesturing to Gohan beside him, "been trying to get you attention for the last five minutes. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," lied Raditz.

"Krillen invited us to a picnic, you want to go?" piped in Gohan. Raditz had to marvel at the boy's capacity to forgive. Yesterday could be put down to shock, today though the boy showed no hesitance or fear in his uncle's presence. Not that he had much to fear from Raditz, he was a super saiyan, Raditz was not. Coming back from the dead would have multiplied both Raditz's and Bardock's power levels but it was still nowhere near the levels needed to fight someone more powerful than Freeza.

"No thanks, I think I want to stay out here," said Raditz. Gohan's face fell, it actually made Raditz want to change his mind but he held strong. Bardock on the other hand…

"Get up, you're going," ordered Bardock gruffly

Raditz glared at him, but Bardock cracked his knuckles and Raditz stood. His arms crossed and an unhappy scowl on his face but he stood. Gohan looked as cheerful as if Raditz had changed his mind all on his own.

They went back to the house to collect Krilen he was just getting himself together when he caught sight of Raditz being tugged into the door by Gohan, then he fell out again. Chi-Chi dragged a reluctant Kakarot out the door, as they got into the car he looked on at the others waving with palpable remorse. After seeing the two off they followed Krillen to the picnic site.


	8. Panic

**Chapter 8**

Panic

Bulma had chosen a wonderful place for a picnic. It was scenic, beautiful, spacious, and private. Her staff had out done themselves providing food and drinks enough for any army, even an army containing a few saiyans.

They were in a field. Cherry trees were in bloom, just like in his vision, whatever happened in it, the arrival of that strangely familiar saiyan, would happen sometime soon. He looked around trying to discern exactly where the ship had landed, it was made difficult by all the people milling around. He could see the blue haired woman chatting away with the bald man they'd arrived with, she was holding the pink haired infant from the vision as well. He had glimpsed Vegeta's tell-tale hairstyle for a moment, perhaps Vegeta could shed some light on Raditz's behavior? But no, Vegeta was an ass, like father, like son, Bardock resolved to figure out his son by himself.

Trailing close behind the blue-haired woman, Bulma he heard her called, was a long-haired boy who matched the baby's coloring, his father, maybe? No, the boy seemed young, a brother, or maybe he was underestimating. Wait, they were headed in his direction, or was he headed in theirs. He shook his head to gain his bearings, his feet were moving, Gohan was dragging him forward by the hand and chatting a mile a minute.

Where were his warrior instincts? His musings were going to get him killed

"Gohan! Go…, you're not Goku," said blue haired woman with a frown. The others gathered around, an old man leaned in closely, a pig, and two older humans. They seemed to be just short of panicking.

"This is my Grandpa Bardock and Uncle Raditz," said Gohan cheerfully. The others looked on apprehensively.

"Apparently King Yenma bought them back to life yesterday," added Krillen

The others looked shell-shocked. The blue-haired woman was the first to recover.

"Well, I'm Bulma, and this little guy is Trunks," she said gesturing to the infant she held. "And this is Trunks, too," she said gesturing to the purple haired teen beside her. Bardock could only

look confused, Raditz just huffed.

"This is Master Roshi, Oolong, and my parents," finished Bulma.

Bardock put on his most polite smile, "a pleasure," he said. He heard Raditz mutter something dismissive under his breath but he was the only one to hear.

"I hope we're not intruding," said Bardock

"Nope, there's plenty, I was expecting a few saiyan appetites anyway," assured Bulma. Gohan was pulling him again, this time towards the food so he had no qualms about going forward. He only turned his head to assess where his eldest was and sure enough he'd disappeared. Oh well, food first, troubled son later.

Raditz found a nice quite spot to relax, except he was really panicking on the inside. A single glimpse of Vegeta was enough to set it off. All it would take was a casual insult, or remark about how breeders were useless, weak, and stupid. It would all come crashing down. Maybe Vegeta would take the time to share his full shame with his father, how he'd been as good as Nappa's whore for a good portion of his life, how he begged and cried as he was used, how he was too weak to defend himself.

All the arrogance and bluster he'd managed to shroud himself with in his first life was gone, He was no warrior, he was just a disgusting thing pretending to be one. He had no right to have pride because he had nothing to be proud of. His father would know, he would know, and he would be just as disgusted as Raditz felt now.

Raditz could feel his breathing slow so that at least outwardly he reflected calm. He peeked around the tree he'd sought refuge behind, no one seemed to be looking for him. His father was eating, and the others were talking. He could leave, put this confrontation off until another day. He stood to do just that.

"You aren't leaving are you?" said Gohan. Raditz whirled around to face the boy, he was holding a plate of all things. He had a sad, disappointed look in his eyes, and Raditz was not strong enough this time to resist it.

"Um, no, I was just, um-," he started, but Gohan was smiling. "Good, I bought you some food, but there's plenty more, and Bulma has some activities planned too!" exclaimed the child handing off the food to Raditz. How did he and Kakarot manage to smile so wide? Didn't it hurt?

"Well, uh, let me finish this first," he said gesturing to the overfilled plate he'd been bought. It was nothing but a snack to a saiyan but he needed time to gather his courage. Gohan left, big goofy grin still in place. He was going to miss that goofy grin when he was forced to leave in disgrace. He shoved the food down quickly, hoping that something in his stomach would help, not that Chi-Chi's breakfast wasn't filling, but that seemed like days ago rather than mere hours.

With one last deep breath, Raditz forced his feet to move in the direction of the crowd. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen, his father was still cramming food into his maw. He took a seat next to Gohan as Bulma was spinning a tale it was the same as the one Kakarot had told them last night but more detailed. She ended at the part where the old man, Master Roshi began training Kakarot and Krillen in martial arts. The old man jumped in, focusing more on the woman he'd forced his new students to bring him as tribute. The bald monk told them of the shared trials, initial jealousy, and the tournament.

At this Bulma jumped in to talk about Chi-Chi, as a little girl and as a young woman competing in a later tournament. Then she got gooey eyed about promises of marriage and weddings. Gohan was blushing, Bardock was laughing. Raditz however felt numb, the inevitable was on its way.


	9. Paragus

**Chapter 9**

Paragus

Karaoke, Raditz decided, was some sadistic form of subtle torture. At least when the bald monk was singing, the blond woman and her husband hadn't sounded so bad. His saiyan hearing put him at a major disadvantage in this case.

His nephew didn't seem to be bothered. His father had fled the moment Krillen picked up the microphone, he didn't see to where exactly but he was sure it was off in the same general direction as Vegeta. That worried him, but he'd come to some sort of peace with it, there was no way around it, there was no way out. It wouldn't be so bad really, he'd just leave the planet and wander the galaxy, Freeza was dead now it wouldn't be so rough, his second life didn't have to be like the first, he'd be alone but that was all he'd wanted in hell anyway.

The biggest problem would be getting a ship. He knew that Earthlings had them, they'd made it to Namek where the final showdown with Freeza had occured but it would be a task to find where they kept these sort of things. Then there was the fact that he'd never flown anything other than Saiyan attack pods. Would his father be merciful enough to let him escape? Unfortunately, Bardock was much stronger than him, and so were some of the humans. He'd just have to make it up as he went along.

Raditz's musings were brought to an end when a large ship landed in the clearing. He stared at the thing with surprise. It was a huge ship, how had they not heard it coming until it was already landing?

* * *

The appearance of the ship was all Bardock had been waiting for.

Bardock had been sitting behind a tree, quite close to the saiyan prince, with his ears covered and his head between his knees, but the rumbling of the spaceship overhead brought him quickly to his feet.

The bald idiot kept singing even after the ship had landed and began opening but he was easier to ignore now that Bardock could focus on the numerous soldiers spilling out from the ship. A quick glance to the side told him what his vision wouldn't reveal, they were headed straight for Vegeta. None of their weapons was drawn, and there was no sense of malice, so he wasn't concerned for the Earthlings or of being attacked. Bardock kept his eyes on the ship, the figure from his vision was stepping out now. The saiyan had a scarred left eye, and he was wearing a white cloak with odd green armor. Bardock still couldn't put a name to the face.

The soldiers had reached Vegeta and they knelt in front of him. They didn't seem to be saiyan at all but their uniforms obscured their features making any identification of their species impossible. The scarred saiyan strode through them and knelt as well. He heard Vegeta confirm that the man was a saiyan and then he introduced himself as Paragus.

Now it made sense, he had only known Paragus in brief passing. He was a low class as well, but a haughty one. Paragus was among those who laughed off Bardock and his crew's attempts to be just as great as the elites were. Why was it vision had painted Paragus as being so important?

He heard Paragus' great declaration to Vegeta. A new Planet Vegeta, even Vegeta was less than impressed with the notion, though Bardock doubted it was for the same reasons as him. What was this about a Legendary Super Saiyan in the south galaxy?

"The Legendary Super Saiyan was a whisper we heard about while serving under Freeza but it proved to be just that, whispers," said Raditz as he came to stand beside him. Whatever had been bothering his son earlier he'd seemed to put it behind him for now.

"It's a trick," responded Bardock as he watched the older Trunks voice the same opinion only to be rebuffed. Vegeta was boarding the ship.

"Why?" asked Raditz, Bardock was silent for a moment. The old man was dragging the others aboard, except Bulma, Baby Trunks, and her parents. Bardock felt that he should be on that ship. It was beginning to close now.

He grabbed Raditz's arm. "Let's find out," he said, pulling his eldest son towards the closing door. They just barely slipped into the doors alongside Big Trunks. Bardock felt a sense of both relief and dread. His vision was leading him to something bigger, something much bigger than some weak saiyan he'd barely knew and didn't like.

He looked over at the other unwilling passengers; the old man was now running in nauseating circles to each window. The others were still trying to contain him. They did not see at all concerned that they had been caught in a web. Big Trunks was following behind Vegeta and Paragus, no doubt trying to figure out the scarred saiyan's scheme. Bardock could tell that they'd already left Earth far behind but it was difficult to tell exactly how far or even how fast they were going.

Well, they were on their way to where ever Paragus' little game would play out and perhaps he would figure out how exactly these visions of his worked.


	10. New Planet Vegeta

**Chapter 10 **

New Planet Vegeta

The ship was fast, especially for its size but then he'd been dead for a few decades, things had to have progressed since then. He could only surmise that they were in the south galaxy but since he didn't know which galaxy Earth was in he couldn't begin to judge the distance they'd traveled. Either way, the journey here took a couple hours at most.

Paragus had successfully managed to seclude Vegeta and even managed to lose Big Trunks. Bardock wasn't too concerned, whatever was waiting for them would be known soon. They flew over a small planet, and could see cities in the distance but they landed close to a castle perched on the ledge of a cliff and far away from any other landmarks.

It was odd Paragus didn't want to show off whatever civilization he'd built for Vegeta, but more than likely this planet had been conquered from some poor, weak race of beings and clean up after a messy job could take years. At least that's what Bardock had always been told, that hadn't really been his area of expertise. He cleared the planets of life then moved on to the next without a thought of what happened after, other than his own payment.

They took hover cars up the treacherous road leading to the castle, when they arrived they, well, Vegeta was greeted by a crowd of assorted aliens.

"Hail, Vegeta!" chanted the crowd

Bardock was not impressed. Paragus introduced his son Brolly. A pathetic looking saiyan who didn't seem to have but one blank facial expression. Soon after one of the alien soldiers came and insisted that the super saiyan had been found. Vegeta immediately went blasting off with Brolly at his side. Bardock only briefly entertained the idea of sneaking aboard again but Paragus was still here so he stayed too.

Raditz, the pig, and the old man wondered off somewhere, while Gohan, Big Trunks, and Krillen went exploring, so Bardock decided that now was a good time to speak with Paragus.

"Paragus, how good to see someone else survived the destruction of our race," he said walking up to Paragus.

"And you too Bardock, though I was sure you'd perished," replied Paragus. Bardock was sure there was a question in there somewhere.

"No, I never died but I did recently find my way to Earth, along with Raditz," said Bardock swiftly. He figured Paragus had been watching them, or at least Vegeta, since he'd known Big Trunks' name without being told.

"Yes, your elder son. I heard he was working for Freeza alongside King Vegeta, I heard he was killed," said Paragus. He was dedicated to this scam of his.

"No, Kakarot would never kill his brother. They had a disagreement and fought, Kakarot defeated Raditz and he left Earth but he also ditched Freeza. He eventually found me. It was his idea to return to Earth, mending old wounds and family bonds, all that rot," said Bardock. Let's see how closely Paragus had been paying attention to the events on Earth.

"Hmm, well you must be proud of Kakarot, he is a true saiyan warrior," said Paragus

"I am proud of both my sons, as I am sure you are proud of yours. Enough of that though, why don't you tell me more about this New Vegeta?" said Bardock. He was seething inside however, Paragus was a saiyan of very little note, how dare he try to disregard Raditz that way.

Paragus seemed pleased at his interest.

"It's a plan I have been brewing for quite some time, restoring our great race to its proper place in the universe, I gathered up warriors from all over who were willing to serve under our flag and of course I am always on the lookout for survivors. I figured once King Vegeta took his rightful place, other saiyans would surely flock here from the furthest corners of the universe," said Paragus, a good story, maybe Bardock was wrong and Paragus wasn't malicious, just delusional.

"And this Legendary Super Saiyan?" he asked

"A thorn in my plans for far too long. I wanted to have this planet at his full glory before I bought King Vegeta here but the moment I heard of him, I knew only Vegeta could defeat him," replied Paragus, yeah he was definitely delusional. As Bardock was thinking on that a soldier ran up to Paragus and whispered something in his ear. Paragus ran off quickly without sparing Bardock another glance.

Bardock decided to practice the skill his grandson had been trying to teach him. He reached out his sense trying to feel a familiar energy, there, that had to be Raditz. He could also feel what must be the old man and pig with him, that was surprising he'd expected Raditz to ditch them.

He walked toward the energy but ran into a wall, so he went out the window instead and came to a room with beds in it where Raditz was dangling the old man out the window as he puked. The pig seemed unconcerned.

"Raditz," he started

"I'm helping," replied Raditz without taking his eyes off the old man he held by one hand. Roshi was moving his arms and legs as if he were swimming.

"Yeah, the fresh air is good for these old bones," yelled the old man in between gagging. The pig just shrugged, "Better out there then in here." Kakarot's friends were odd. Bardock slid in an adjoining window and sat on one of the beds. So, he guessed they were staying the night, and no one seemed concerned about what Cell might do in their absence. Well at least Kakarot was still on Earth, thought Bardock as they were called to dinner. Bardocks stomach gave a resounding rumble and he qickly followed the soldier who'd been sent to fetch them, after making sure Raditz had pulled the old man back into the room. He did actually seem better from the fresh air.


	11. Anxiety

**Chapter 11**

Anxiety

To say Bardock was shocked to see his youngest son was an understatement. Had another ship arrived and they'd not heard?

"Hey Dad," greeted Kakarot as the spread of food came out. Paragus stood off to the side, even as they took their seats.

"How did you get here?" asked Bardock. Kakarot told him quickly about King Kai and his concerns about the Legendary Super Saiyan and how he'd followed his trail. Well, that was one more confirmation that Paragus wasn't completely full of it, but why did the trail lead here?

"Well, it's not Paragus. Now if I were that super saiyan where would I be right now," he heard Kakarot say. A quick comment from the pig had Kakarot tucking in to the food with the rest of them. Well most of them, Raditz was picking at his again and where was Gohan?

At the end of the meal, Bardock had hoarded enough food away from the others to cover a small meal for a saiyan. He could see Kakarot eying it but he was determined Raditz would eat a full meal.

The others were already gone, they couldn't even try to keep up with a saiyan's appetite.

"You're not leaving this table until it's all eaten," threatened Bardock. He was feeling more and more like Chi-Chi as the moment went on, though he was sure she never had a problem with Gohan eating.

"I'm not hungry," said Raditz stubbornly pushing the food away. He laid his head on the table and closed his eyes. "I'll help," said Kakarot, reaching out to one of the plates, Bardock slapped his hand and he pulled it back, pouting. While Bardock did desire a chance to be a better father, he did not need his two adult sons to behave like a pair of three year olds.

"Raditz, eat," he ground out, annoyed with the whole thing now.

"Father, no," replied Raditz without lifting his head.

"Fine, we can do this the hard way," said Bardock. He stood, leapt over the table, and threw Raditz to the floor. Raditz let out a cry of surprise as Bardock sat on him and began shoveling food into his mouth. Kakarot was staring at them with surprise and a slight bit of amusement. Bardock himself was amused, until Raditz' entire body went stiff. From his position on top of his eldest son's chest Bardock saw pure panic flash through Raditz's eyes before he closed them, but Raditz made no move to fight back. Bardock wasn't pining his hands or feet but he didn't swing either of them in an attempt to free himself.

Bardock dropped the spoon he'd been holding and put his hands on each side of Raditz face.

"Raditz, what's wrong?" he asked he quickly moved off Raditz to kneel at his side, thinking that perhaps he'd somehow injured him. "Raditz," he called again to his still unresponsive son. He heard Kakarot get up and soon he was kneeling on the other side.

"Raditz," called Kakarot softly. He could hear Raditz sucking in deep breaths of air, he open his eyes and looked at them both with confusion.

"I, I," Raditz stuttered before he sat up quickly.

"Are you hurt?" asked Bardock reaching out to feel along Raditz's ribs, his son not only flinched from the contact but he also scooted back along the floor to get away from it. There was fear in his eyes now, but before either he or Kakarot could move, Raditz bolted from the room. He and Kakarot looked at each other confused.

"What just happened?" asked Kakarot

"I don't know but I will find out," said Bardock.

Raditz fled. 'he ran out of the castle and flew off the cliff on which the castle was perched. There was a small forest down here. Raditz sat on the ground, leaned against the largest one he could find. He was still breathing heavy trying to slow down his heart.

"_This is all a breeder is good for," hissed Nappa_

Raditz shook his head trying to think of something, anything else.

_Bardock lay in his shallow grave, he was just sleeping, unaware that his bearer planned to bury him alive. _

"No," Raditz whispered to himself. "He was dead, he was dead,"

_He held the infants face into his chest, holding tightly even as the boy began to struggle. His small limbs eventually fell limp and lifeless._

"I had no choice, they didn't give me a choice," he insisted to the night sky, because his conscious wasn't listening. He sat there for a few moments, forcing himself to think about the stars surrounding him. He did not think about the eventual confrontation between him and his father. He didn't want to think about that.

Raditz had no idea how long he'd sat there, long enough that he'd drifted off. He couldn't tell what had woken him. He heard his name being called.

He found himself staring at his brother, who taken a seat, crosslegged, in the dirt on front of him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing, just…old nightmares, it's stupid," Raditz muttered

"You should come back and rest," said Kakarot with obvious concern. He reached out to touch Raditz's shoulder but dropped his hand at the last moment. They sat awkwardly in each other's presence for a moment.

"Go on. I'll be there in a while, I just need a few more moments alone to clear my head," said Raditz when it seemed his brother might have gotten up the courage to ask him questions he didn't want to answer. Kakarot flew off back to the castle, Raditz felt the relief wash through him.

Raditz did head back to the castle. He flew to the front entrance determined to put off joining the others as long as possible. He thought he knew the way to their room but apparently not well enough. He got lost quickly.

He walked passed a cracked door; he heard grunting, pained grunting. He peeked in only to see Brolly, sitting in a chair his teeth gritted together. He seemed to be struggling with something. Raditz could have and should have walked away but he didn't.

"Are you alright?" he asked stepping into the room.

Brolly still struggled, then his aura flared. "Kakarot," he gritted out. His hair had an odd tint to it and he seemed more muscular than he'd been before.


	12. Brolly

**Chapter 12**

Brolly

"Brolly?" asked Raditz moving towards the other saiyan. Brolly didn't respond but he seemed angry. Was he angry at Kakarot over something? As far Raditz knew, the two had not interacted.

"Whatever my brother has done, I'm sure he didn't mean it. There isn't a cruel bone in his body," said Raditz.

"Kakarot," growled Brolly, gripping the armrest of his chair tightly, his face twisted in anger. Raditz's own rage flared in response.

"Look whatever your problem is with my brother-" Raditz started, but he was interrupted as Brolly surged forth towards the door. "Kakarot!" the brute yelled. Although Raditz had yet to properly learn to sense energy he could feel it pouring off Brolly in waves, even so, he launched a ki blast at the brute. It was a weak one, but bright and directly in Brolly's face. The taller saiyan turned with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

"Brolly, calm down. Kakarot didn't-" said Raditz but he was interrupted as Brolly grabbed his face with one hand and slammed him into the wall. He had the monster's full attention now, and Brolly stood over him with a crazed expression. Brolly kneeled down enough to grab Raditz by the throat, and try as Raditz might there was no prying the monster's paw from it.

"Kill you, then Kakarot," said Brolly. He voice was still odd, like he was fighting to push out each word. Raditz struggled against Brolly's grip but it was useless, he wasn't strong enough. Brolly was certainly not the weakling he'd been presented as. Brolly gathered a small ball of ki in his hand and as his life flashed before his eyes, it hit him. Brolly was the Legendary Super Saiyan.

His realization answered many questions about Paragus' scheme but it raised many more. He continued trying to pry Brolly's hand from its choking grip he had to warn someone, especially seeing as this monster seemed to be fixated on his brother.

Brolly leaned in closer, he seemed to be confused about something. He was sniffing Raditz now and his grip loosened just a bit.

"Let me go," Raditz managed to get out.

"Maybe not kill,' grunted Brolly. So now he wasn't going to kill him? At this point Raditz would have preferred decisiveness on the matter. Now Brolly was sniffing him in earnest, the saiyan's head pushed into Raditz's neck and he could feel the deep inhales Brolly was taking. It was more than a little unsettling, he could feel heart rate pick up in advance of another panic attack. Brolly was too close, he was too close and there was nothing Raditz could do. He was powerless.

Brolly's confusion ended, he seemed to have come to his decision. He tore Raditz away from the wall, slamming him down into the floor instead. Raditz tried to scramble away, but Brolly caught him by the middle of his hair. He began dragging him backwards, into the bowels of the large room. Raditz glanced behind himself to see the mattress pressed into the corner that they were headed to. His mind reach into his worse nightmares of Nappa and he came to a desperate choice of action.

He surrounded his hand with enough ki to cut, no easy feat considering the panic coursing through him. He swiped his hand through his hair, just above where Brolly was holding it and as soon as he felt the strands come away from the rest, he shot towards the door with all the speed he could muster.

However, Brolly was still faster.

Raditz found himself running straight into Brolly before he could reach the door, which was still slightly parted open. Brolly sported a manic grin on his face as he caught Raditz's throat in one hand and reached behind himself and shut the door with the other.

"Don't run off, pet. I haven't finished playing with you yet," said Brolly darkly. He was no longer fighting for each word, whatever internal foe he'd been fighting had been conquered for the time being.

Brolly's grip was much tighter this time, Raditz could see spots in the edges of his vision. He was so focused on the need for air that he didn't feel Brolly move but when he was released to fall onto Brolly's bed he knew that he must have. Even as he gasped for breath, Raditz tried to roll off the bed and away, but Brolly wasn't having it.

Radit found himself pinned down with unyielding force. He heard rather than felt his clothes being ripped away. As he continued trying to force even the slightest movement of struggle into his limbs, he felt Brolly reach down and purposely snap the bone in his left leg like it was noting but a twig. He screamed or tried too, his mouth was covered by one of Brolly's hands, and the other was moving its way to his other leg.

The crack was audible as that one was snapped too. Brolly was laughing, his body held Raditz down, his hand, the one that had snapped both Raditz's legs now moved to seal his fate. He could feel, with frightening clarity as Brolly freed himself from his clothes. He then raised Raditz's body up enough to position himself at Raditz's entrance.

Brolly pushed himself in slowly but incessantly until he was fully seated inside of Raditz's body. He grinned down at Raditz's pained face, savoring it. He pulled nearly all the way out before slamming back in, this time actually chuckling at Raditz's pained gasp. He kept it up as a slow and brutal rhythm, Raditz could feel his pelvic bone threatening to break as well.

"You see, Pet, you would have missed out on the fun," taunted Brolly. Raditz was sure he was bleeding now, if only he could pass out. He felt himself drifting out just as Brolly began to pick up him pace. He was brought back by a harsh backhand.

"Stay with me, Pet. I'd hate for you to miss out," Brolly hissed to him. As Brolly's speed picked up, his head dropped back down the juncture between Raditz's neck and shoulder, he was sniffing Raditz again. Raditz could hear Brolly panting but all he could feel was pain radiating from his pelvis to all over his body. Brolly's thrusts were erratic now, as the brute searched for his own release. Just as Brolly stiffened and shoved himself as deeply into Raditz's body as he could, Raditz's body could take no more. He passed out into blissful darkness.


	13. Fallout

Chapter 13

Fallout

Pain, that was the first thing he recognized.

"Raditz? Raditz! Come on, son, let's get these on you and get out of here before this place blows," he heard, but it was faint, so faint he might have dreamed it. Images swam in head, mostly of his father, and voices that floated around him out of sync with time.

"…ok?,"

"…Paragus…destroy…happened,"

"Goku…Cell,"

"Back off,"

When Raditz was more oriented and conscious he realized he was no longer in Brolly's room, he was on a ship, most likely headed back to Earth. He could hear lots of chatter, there were a lot of people aboard the ship. He could pick out his nephew and brother's voices, and even that of the bald monk. He was being held tightly to someone's chest, the scent was familiar and comforting, his father's scent. He could feel the tenseness of Bardock's body, he was being shielded from the others. His body still radiated pain but judging from the inability of his legs to move they'd been splinted. Had his father done that? Did he know Raditz's secret? What had happened with Brolly and Paragus?

Raditz wanted to look at his surroundings but that would alert his father that he was awake and start a confrontation he wasn't sure he wanted to have, so he leaned into his father's embrace the way he had longed to as a child and drifted back to sleep.

Bardock was beyond pissed. He was incensed, more angry than he could ever recall being before. It took him all of three seconds to put together what Raditz must have been keeping from him. He knew that there was something in a breeder's scent that turned rage into lust, or at least that's the way the story went. Was this what Raditz had been brooding over?

He'd found Raditz by tracing his ki, and what he found had been horrifying. Raditz's blood smeared all over the bed. There were no sheets, nothing to cover the hand shaped bruises that littered his broken body . Paragus' scheme had come out and Brolly was raging on a planet that was already doomed. He had shaken Raditz in an effort to get him moving, but when his son's eyes only fluttered open and right back closed he knew he was on his own. He dressed him in Brolly's spare clothes, after splinting both his legs with wood he had to break off a door. He carried Raditz to the Nemekian's ship, arriving just after the others. He all but threatened to blast them if they tried to come closer to Raditz.

He couldn't believe this. His vision, his vision made it seem so important to be on that ship, and he'd felt the impulse to bring Raditz as well. He'd failed his son all over again and he had no one to blame but himself and maybe that accursed Kanassan.

If this was the outcome, could he trust his visions? What would happen if he ignored them? The Kanassan people had no choice but watch their own destruction come upon them, was it possible to change what he saw?

For now, he would worry about repairing the trust between himself and his son.

_"Raditz!"_

_"Take…help you…"_

_"Another sedative,"_

_"Goku's…Gohan…Cell"_

When Raditz woke again he was in very little pain. He was lying in a bed and it was very quiet. His body felt stiff, and fuzzy. He tried to move his legs and found that they were no longer in a splint but they were stiff as the boards that had been tied to them. His hair was exactly as it had been, as if he'd never cut it, like his nightmare had never happened.

He opened his eyes only to blinded by the bright light. When his eyes had adjusted, he found he was in an unfamiliar room. It was empty save the bed and a desk with papers thrown over it. The desk chair was pulled up to one side of the bed.

"You're awake," said someone off to the opposite side.

Raditz turned his head to see Bulma standing there, it was almost odd to see her now without her infant. Raditz opened his mouth to speak but his lips and mouth were dry, so he could only cough.

"We were able to get half a senzu bean for you, but we didn't have many, and the others were banged up too and your legs and ribs were broken, plus there was a lot of bruising so it didn't heal as well as we would have liked," she said. She walked over to the desk and leaned over the papers, she had not once even looked at Raditz.

"I'll get Bardock," she said. As she turned, Raditz was sure her eyes were red, was she ill as well?

When the door opened again it was not Bardock but ChiChi who walked through it. Thankfully, she bought a large pitcher of water with her. She poured a glass and offered it to Raditz but he reached for the pitcher instead, she handed it over with a weak smile.

He gulped down the water quickly, while ChiChi sipped delicately from the glass. He looked at her, she looked horrible, her eyes were red, from tears not from illness, and it didn't seem like she'd slept in a while. He was sure she hadn't had a miraculous change of heart no matter what his condition.

"What happened?" he said with some difficulty, his throat still wasn't cooperating completely.

"You don't reme-" she started somewhat shocked.

"Not to me, no one in here is crying over me," he said bluntly

"Oh, you mean," she said, wiping at her eyes, "Goku, Goku, he's, he died in the fight against Cell," she said with a sob. Raditz nearly jumped up, only stopped by his own body's unwillingness.

"Dead? What about Gohan, is Cell still alive, where is my father?" he said before he even thought about what he was saying. 'Why do I care? I've barely known them two days, and there is still the question of whether I'll get to stay here or not," He thought to himself bitterly.

"Gohan's fine, he defeated Cell, Cell is dead, but Goku is too and Bardock, I'm not sure. He bought you here and demanded something to heal you, we were only able to scramble up half a senzu bean but we didn't know how severe your wounds were, Bardock wouldn't say what happened," she told him but he could see her thoughts were still with Kakarot.

So his father had hidden the truth, out of shame no doubt, but then why allow them to heal him. Was he going to sell him off? Raditz bit his lip in contemplation, no matter what he was expecting to happen himself he couldn't deny the sadness that washed over him at Kakarot's death, nor the relief at Gohan's survival. He wasn't sure why he was so sad, Kakarot had been dead before hadn't he? And he wasn't like he was going to end up in Hell.

"Aren't you just going to wish him back?" he asked softly

A look of anger passed ChiChi's face. Raditz instinctively shrunk back, wandering what he'd done now.

"Goku didn't want to be bought back, even if he had the dragon can't revive someone who has been bought back before," said ChiChi with a slight growl. She seemed quite irritated at that first part. If Kakarot couldn't be brought back then why would he share such a thought anyway? Raditz wanted to apologize but he didn't know why so he didn't.

"Where is father now?" he asked. It was time to face his future, whatever it may be.


	14. Confrontation

**Chapter 14**

Confrontation

Bardock let a fierce yell before destroying the bolder in front of him. All his anger, his frustration was being poured into his training right now. He hated being so weak. He had stood at Raditz's bedside rather than help with the fight against Cell, he knew he would only be in the way. He stood there while his youngest son and only grandson risked their lives, he stood there, helplessly, while his youngest son lost his life.

One son isolated and injured, the other son dead. His second chance was shaping up a lot like his first and he was running out of boulders to take it out on.

"Grandfather!" called Gohan. He snapped out of his thoughts to see the boy land. Gohan had been strong in the wake of his father's death, his own victory against Cell, or the fact that he was the most powerful warrior on the planet had not seemed to phase his humble nature. He was dedicating himself to his studies but he was still going to help Bardock train.

"Come to join me?" asked Bardock, plastering a small smile on his face. He was trying not to express the rage he still felt coursing through his body, especially not to Gohan. He was already off to bad start as a father, he didn't want to be a moody grandfather as well.

Gohan shook his head, "Uncle Raditz is awake," he said before taking off into the sky again. He didn't have to look behind him to know Bardock was following. They flew in silence letting the isolated plains fade into first the forest and then to the city.

When they arrived at Capsule Corp Bardock could see little had changed. All of Goku's friends were gathered there, they seemed to be collectively mourning. Well, except Vegeta, Vegeta was training in his gravity chamber. They had already said goodbye to Big Trunks, who it turned out was Little Trunks from the future. Having been bought back to life Bardock shouldn't have found that odd but he did, time travel was a difficult concept to wrap his head around.

They went straight to the room Raditz was waiting in. He was alone and seemed to be staring off into space, but Bardock was relieve to see he looked much better then when he'd been bought here. He hadn't shared all the details of Raditz's injures, he didn't think Raditz would appreciate the entire group knowing about his assault. He could only hope that the half a senzu bean Raditz had been given had taken care of any…internal injuries.

"Gohan, why don't you find your mother? I want to speak to Raditz alone," he said as they reached Raditz's door. He heard Gohan mummer an ok before he padded off somewhere. took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

Raditz was alone, he sat on the bed staring off into space, "Raditz?" he called out softly. Raditz glanced at him, and then quickly to the other side of the room. His gaze remained there with some visible effort. He said nothing and the silence hung between them heavily.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked

"I'm fine," muttered Raditz tonelessly. He paused and then took a breath to continue. "I…I guess you've figured it out, what I was hiding," said Raditz. He chanced a brief glance at Bardocks face, finding it devoid of any conclusive expression. He didn't want to say too much, but it seemed he'd been out of it for a while and who knew what Bardock might have dragged out Vegeta.

"Yes, I asked Vegeta for confirmation when we got back. He is the only one who really knows what happened to you. The rest just think Brolly attempted to beat the life from you," said Bardock.

"And so what will happen now?" asked Raditz, the question seemed weighted in a way Bardock could not understand. Then it dawned on him, the role of breeders on the old Planet Vegeta, needed but reviled. A breeder's discovery led to disownment from friends and family, and eventually to a half life led locked away forced to have child after child in the service of the king, drowned in humiliation and despair.

Bardock had never given this cruel system much thought, most didn't until they or a loved one was involved in it, and now thirty years after the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the majority of her people, he was in its wake.

"I'm not going to disown you, you are my son and this is just a part of you. Nothing has to change, well, except the running off and brooding, we can be done with that part now, right?" said Bardock.

"I make no promises," responded Raditz with a small smile. Bardock sat on the bed beside him and ruffle his hair in a way he had not done since Raditz was a little boy.

"Well, as long as were talking about a future, I'm thinking we don't want to be sleeping on the living room floor of your brother's house forever," said Bardock, carefully looping an arm around Raditz shoulders. Raditz's reaction on New Vegeta at the dinner table still weighed on him but one step at a time.

"No we don't," agreed Raditz, his shoulders tensed but he didn't pull away, and they relaxed after a few seconds.

"I first thought about cutting down all those trees and building something-" said Bardock frowning as he was interrupted by Raditz disbelieving snort, "But Earthlings apparently have houses that can just spring into being from little capsules, and Bulma is willing to give us one,"

"I'm sure ChiChi will be happy to have us out of her hair," said Raditz.

"Well, we won't be going far, I'm planning on cutting down those trees anyway, we're moving in next door," said Bardock with a laugh.

"You haven't told her that part yet have you?" said Raditz with a knowing smile.

"Nope, but she'll be absolutely thrilled," said Bardock with a sadistic smile.

* * *

In the end they decided the best way to tell ChiChi was to let her walk into the situation. When she woke up one morning a few days later and walked outside to the morning air, she glance to her left and where there had once been trees and foliage was a capsule house.

He mouth dropped open.

"BARDOCK!" she screeched

"What, you didn't think you were getting rid of us that easily did you?" said Bardock from her right. She jumped and whirled on him, he standing right beside her, where he hadn't been a few seconds ago. "I want to be close to my family," Bardock finished serenely.

"Oh, well that's sweet of you," responded ChiChi with a bright smile. Bardock returned it and turned away. He strode away about four steps before he said, "That and who else is going to cook for us,"

ChiChi produced her Frying Pan of Doom from nowhere, chucked it with deadly aim at Bardock's head and hit him dead on. She spent the rest of the day glaring darkly at her father-in-law, even mumbling moodily that she finally saw where Goku got his inconsiderate behavior from. Despite that, she did in fact cook a hearty meal for everyone.


End file.
